Washington Post/Feb 25, 2005
Two Messages On Education
AS THE NATION'S governors gather here tomorrow to discuss high schools, state officials of various stripes are putting out curiously mixed messages. On the one hand, Achieve Inc., a business-backed education reform group tht organized this weekend's event together with the National Governors Association, kicking off the conference with the release of some surpirsing data. According to Achieve, only 68 out of every 100 American ninth-graders will graduate from high school. Of that number, only 40 will enter college, only 27 will remain enrolled in their sophomore year and only 18 will graduate "on time" -- no more than two years late, that is -- from either a two-year or a four-year college. Achieve plans to reinforce the impact of those numbers - which deflate the myth of the United States as a society where college degrees are routine -- by giving every governor the relevant numbers for his or her state. Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), who is chairing the four-day event, will be told that of every 100 ninth-graders, only 41 will enter college and 22 will graduate. For Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), the numbers will show that 45 will enter college and 19 will graduate. In all cases, the numbers for minorities are worse.
As the governors and Achieve acknowledge, much of the explanation for the low numbers of college graduates lies in the low quality of high school curriculums: According to Achieve, more than half of college students are assigned to take remedial English or math in college, andjust under half of employers say they have trouble finding employees with the basic reading and writing skills they need. To fight those problems, the governors will talk about creating more challenging high-stakes tests and graduation requirements so graduates are better prepared, and about developing better relationships between highschools and colleges.
Some of the governors -- from Texas, Ohio and Michigan, for example -- will be coming with lists of bright-sounding innovations they've tried, including small highschools and joint highschool-community college degrees. All agree that there is no single formula for success, which is why it may help to compare notes with other governors.
Nevertheless, the main theme of the weekend will be higher standards and more accountability -- which is why it is worth noting the conclusions of another group of officials, the National Conference of State Legislators,whose task force on the No Child Left Behind Law wound up advocating not accountability but flexibility, which in this context could be a code word for letting standards slip. The state legislators do have a point when they note that the "federal government has become excessively intrusive in the day-to-day operations of public education." But that wouldn't have happened if states were doing their job -- if states had ensured that more of their students finish college. The legislators also are right to note that some No Child Left Behind regulations seem absurd. No school is ever likely to meet 100 percent proficiency in everything, for example, and we've written before that the NCLB rules should not be applied to highschool until the bugs have been worked out in middle and elementary schools. But what matters most is whether state officials are focusing their energy on blocking testing and standards, like the legislators, or on trying to find ways to raise them, like the governors. On balance, we prefer the governors' approach, and we hope much comes out of their meeting.

They are all playing for the same team - the ignorant promoting ignorance.

Of course the politicians are gonna say things have to get better- that's what they get paid for - lip service.

As much as they would like to have us all incoctrinated to a uniherdity level, they also want the serfs to make the donuts and flip the burgers. They have to have the poor and the uneducated to blame the evils of society upon in the media. It's also the poor who create the disposable children that are used for medical experimentation, social experiemnts and all sorts.

The world would not be feudalist barring the obvious selection of who recieves an education and who does not.

Uniherdity is also a great debt to tie around a young person - gaining control of the students finances from the get-go: steering their debt-ridden future.

Exactly!!!!!!!!! ONE BIG TEAM! Everything!
Like someone asked in another thread... is it too late?? Sometimes I think " we're more than a little late".
But yet in some ways I feel we can be made heard and make a difference.

Don't lose hope. The worm can turn at any moment and a lost sould can wake up any day, at any point in time.

The truth is easy to learn. It's the lies that don't make any sense and keep folks confused.

When in the mall the other day, chickie asked if I collect frequent flyer miles. I gave her my usual response, "No I don't. I don't like Big Brother tracking my spending habits." She gave me this really confused look and I'm sure a seed of thought was planted in the young girl besides her. She knew exactly what I meant.

A few awake folks is worth a thousand sleepy donut makers with regards to the chaos we can awaken when pointing to the truth.

Sooner or later, the truth smacks all in the face, at some point in time.

Whether one chooses to acknowledge the truth or not is where the subject of ignorance comes in.

There is a natural law where the tides of consciousness change once enough people are swimming up stream and it really doesn't take that many determined fishies... it's only a matter of time. It's that 100th monkey story.

Swimming up stream? Only an act of God can make that happen. Usually what happens, is those who do TRY to swim upstream are reluctant to find a spot where the current won't sweep them away as it never fails to overpower and consume every time.

__________________
So pardon me while I burst into flames.
I\'ve had enough of the world and it\'s people\'s mindless games.
So pardon me while I burn, and rise above the flame. Pardon me, pardon me, I\'ll never be the same. -Brandon Boyd
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